A massive fire broke out in the early morning hours of Shabbos in the Satmar Beis Medrash on Rechov Yonah in the Geulah neighborhood of Jerusalem. Nine firefighting crew worked for hours to quell the flames, which spread to the two adjacent buildings, a Talmud Torah and a shul. Baruch Hashem, there were no injuries but the buildings sustained heavy damage and are now in danger of collapse. The firefighters rescued eight Sifrei Torah from the Beis Medrash and hundreds of Sifrei Kodesh and tefillin. At least two Sifrei Torah were damaged but Baruch Hashem were not burned. It is not yet clear what caused the fire. A special investigative team was established to examine the circumstances of the incident. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A recent poll of 1,000 Republicans has revealed that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the favorite to win the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential primary. The poll, conducted by WPA Intelligence from February 13-16, shows that DeSantis would win a hypothetical nine-way primary race with 40 percent of the Republican vote. Even when put up against eight other candidates, DeSantis emerged as the clear winner. Former President Donald Trump, who many believe may run again in 2024, came in second with 31 percent support in the hypothetical race. This marks a 9 percent trail behind DeSantis, who is widely considered to be one of the most popular GOP candidates for 2024. The remaining seven candidates in the proposed race all earned under 10 percent of the Republican voting bloc.

NYPD Deputy Chief Charles McEvoy and NYPD Lieutenant Yitzy Jablon of Brooklyn South Community Affairs released the following statement regarding the upcoming “National Day of Hate” this Shabbos: To our Brooklyn South Community, As many of you may be aware, an online domestic anti-Semitic group has designated February 25th as a “day of hate”, with other hate groups planning to participate. The NYPD assures you that at this time there are no actionable or credible threats to the Jewish community. Nonetheless, as a proactive measure, the NYPD will be increasing patrols with both marked and unmarked vehicles to ensure the safety of our communities.

South African university student Klaas Mokgomole had just landed at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv after a nine-hour flight from Johannesburg and desperately needed a bathroom. Approaching an airline official – hoping he understood English – Mokgomole asked him: “Can you please show me to the blacks-only restroom?” Shocked by his question, the official responded that there was certainly no such bathroom in the airport but pointed the way to the nearest men’s bathroom. . Now it was Mokgomole’s turn to be shocked. He proceeded to enter the bathroom and saw the evidence with his own eyes. Contrary to what he had been told in South Africa, Jews and Arabs were using the same bathroom and no one objected when he – with his black skin – walked in.

A baby was named after the kedoshim Asher and Yaakov Paley, h’yd at a bris in the Rechavia neighborhood of Jerusalem this week, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. The terrible tragedy touched the hearts of Reb Baruch Elkaslassy and his wife, and they decided to name their son after the kedoshim. Elkaslassy told B’Chadrei: “The attack was on Friday, when Yaakov, z’l, was murdered. His brother Asher, z’l, was niftar on Shabbos, and our baby was born on Sunday. The tragedy touched our hearts and the least we could do was help commemorate them by calling our son by their names (first names only).” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A Hatzolah member who made international headlines last month for providing emergency medical care to a fellow passenger on a Florida-bound flight found himself the center of attention once again, this time being recognized for his efforts by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. As previously reported on The Yeshiva World, Naftoli Schischa was on a JetBlue flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale when a passenger fainted in the aisle.  A member of Williamsburg, Rockland and South Florida Hatzalah, Schischa used his training to stabilize the woman, his actions averting the need for an emergency landing.  The story broke on Fox News and spread rapidly, thrusting the reluctant Schischa into the media spotlight.

A terrible tragedy occurred when a fire broke out overnight Wednesday in a home in Monroe, near Kiryat Yoel. A large number of fire and rescue services arrived at the scene. Sadly, after they managed to extinguish the fire, they discovered that a frum couple and their seven-year-old daughter had perished in the fire. The cause of the fire is not yet known. This is a developing story. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
The post BDE: Terrible Tragedy In Monroe: Frum Family Perish In House Fire appeared first on The Yeshiva World.

Israelis living in the south of the country were abruptly awoken in the early hours of Thursday morning by the sound of Red Alert sirens warning of incoming rocket fire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that six rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, five of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and the other one fell in an open area. The rockets were fired at around 4am local time, causing residents to flee to nearby bomb shelters. Sirens sounded in Ashkelon, Sderot, and the surrounding areas. No casualties were initially reported. As the IDF has commonly done in the past, a response with precision airstrikes is expected at terror infrastructure within the Strip. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Jordanian security inspection officials cut off the leather straps of a Rav’s tefillin at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman on Monday. HaRav Moshe Haliva, the Rav of the Sephardi kehilla in Dubai, flew from Israel to Abu Dhabi via Amman. When Rav Haliva went through security in Amman, security officials confiscated his tefillin, and after an hour and a half of arguments, and despite the Rav’s pleas that it was a religious object, they cut the tefillin straps in front of him and returned the batim to him. “I cried, I begged,” Rav Haliva told Ynet. “I explained to them that it’s a holy object, I told them that we’re cousins, that we also daven to Allah.

As the government on Wednesday continued to advance its judicial reform bills, opposition leader Yair Lapid lost his equilibrium. Amid a raucous debate on the Override Clause, an amendment to one of Israel’s Basic Laws that will curb the power of the Supreme Court, Lapid got up to speak, quickly reaching an extremely high volume. “I want to address the real prime minister [Justice Minister] Yariv Levin. Since you run this government, you have to remember that with power comes responsibility. And in another half a year from now, when the Israeli economy is shattered on the floor – because it’s already shattering – when the security is on the floor, when the state will fall apart from within, it will be on your head because you’re the real prime minister,” Lapid fear-mongered.